


Reaching Out To You

by Lazchan



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 23:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9407207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazchan/pseuds/Lazchan
Summary: Yuuri repays old debts from those that inspired him to keep skating; Minami is competing again in the block qualifications and this time, Yuuri is there to cheer him on without any hesitation.





	

"Yuuri!" There was an exuberant shout from behind him and Yuuri turned with a grin to see Minami barreling down the hallway, grinning widely at him. He hadn't grown much in the half a year since he'd seen him last. This time, he wasn't here to compete against Minami, but to cheer him on. He hoped that Minami would put on a show that would let him advance on to each qualifying round.

"Is this one of the kids you faced, katsudon?" Yuri raised an eyebrow at the other; he was practically hugging Yuuri. "When you decided to come back to qualify for the Grand Prix last year?" He looked young; although Yuri wasn't sure that was a qualifier he could use with Japanese people anymore.

"I'm older than you are." Minami wrinkled his nose. Gold medal winner or not, he wasn’t going to be called a kid by his junior in age. He had to have some advantages and if he wasn't going to win by height or medals, at least he could say he was older than Yuri Plisetsky. "By at least two years."

Yuri stared at him; he was shorter than _Yuuri_ , how could he be older than he was? "Don't you Japanese people ever _grow_?" he demanded. "Jeez, I thought it was a problem with just Yuuri being short."

"You were shorter than me not that long ago," Yuuri huffed, but there was a hint of a smile on his face.

"I was also _fifteen_ ," Yuri smirked. "Maybe you'll stay short and this other one will finally grow past you—although if he's eighteen, has he already stopped?" There was a wicked grin on his face and while most of the conversation was delivered in a mix of Russian and English, Minami had obviously caught some of it.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being short," Minami wrinkled his nose at the both of them. "It makes it easier to get around the ice." He beamed up at Yuuri. "Are you here to watch the entire program? I know you're not competing here; not after winning silver at the Grand Prix—you don't have to qualify from the blocks anymore—"

Yuuri rubbed the back of his head, cheeks red. "No… not unless I mess up again, but…" he gave him a sheepish smile. "I think I finally realized what I can do and—well," he stared down at the ground for a moment . "I have you to thank for it."

Minami stared at him, something like a startled squawk of disbelief coming from his throat and Yuri couldn't help but interject. He was _trying_ to make the situation better; if this kid was going to skate and obviously hero-worshipped Yuuri, then why not give him an extra boost?

"Yeah, katsudon here was going to quit skating."

"You… what…" Minami's eyes were stinging as he gripped at Yuuri's shirt. "No—you couldn't have been wanting to quit! If you quit, I couldn't face you at the Grand Prix—you're too _good_ to quit, what were you thinking?" There was a quiet buzz behind Minami and Yuuri turned red.

"Are you going to keep bringing that up?" Yuuri demanded of Yuri, scowling at him. "You shouldn't have even known—I don't even want to think about how you knew, but—" he ran a hand through his hair, irritated, before turning back to Minami and giving him a reassuring smile.

"It was another reason entirely, that I was thinking of quitting, but—" he sighed. "I was telling the truth, Minami. Watching you skate—" his expression turned from irritation into a kind of incredulous joy. "Watching everyone skate last year and actually just enjoying themselves while they competed…" he looked off where there were skaters walking around, chatting happily amongst each other. "It reminded me that I… that I enjoyed it, too. You looked up to me," he said, voice almost wondering. "Even though you were the better skater at Nationals, you …."

Minami turned red as well at hearing such praise from Yuuri. "I---" he waved his hands in denial. "I just didn't want to see you—see you think so badly of yourself!" he protested. "I—I – I started skating because I saw you on tv and…." He scraped his foot against the ground, embarrassed, missing Yuuri's look of dumbfounded shock. "And even thought you didn't even say anything to me and—and ran away—" Here Yuri snorted, but Yuuri elbowed him into silence and Minami looked back up at him, eyes shining. "It was the best thing ever to be able to skate against you! I want to keep on doing it, in all the competitions."

Yuuri's words were stuck in his throat, he had no idea that—that he was an inspiration to Minami like Viktor had been for him. He hadn't been a genius or world-shattering or stand out, in his opinion. He skated where the music took him, he couldn't imagine _not_ skating, not for real, but—to actually to have inspired someone else? He felt his eyes burn with tears and he rubbed at them, overwhelmed and robbed of his ability to form a response.

"I—I'll be right back," he choked out, giving Minami an awkward hug before running off towards the bathrooms.

Minami just laughed and looked a little surprised. "Yuuri hasn’t changed," was all said. "He gets all overwhelmed and can't … well—he was colder about it last time… " his cheeks burned at saying something so mean about Yuuri. "I—I—I don't think he meant it!" he protested vehemently, even if Yuri hadn't said a word of protest. "He just gets all _intense_ and _focused_ and it kind of looks cool, but…." His smiled was shyer now, with the hint of his small fang poking through. "I kind of like this Yuuri more."

Yuri rolled his eyes and slumped back to the bench. "Jeez, you think he'd be better at this sort of thing," he muttered, "if he's been skating for as long as I think he's been skating." He eyed Minami, now that Yuuri wasn't nearby. He couldn't help but be curious. "How long have you actually been his fan?"

"Since I saw him skating in local competitions," Minami flopped down next to him, stretching out his legs and arms, almost bending backwards. "I got a private account with his stuff—" he pulled out his phone. "Like—this is from when he was like fourteen—before he went really competitive and stuff."

Yuri's eyes lit with a sudden interest and he stared intently at Minami, who edged away a little. "You have pictures of katsudon when he was my age?" he demanded.

Minami blinked at the nickname, but he gave an uncertain nod. "And video," he confirmed, but his expression was hesitant as he looked around for Yuuri. "I.. I really shouldn't—"

"No. I want to see," Yuri tried with Japanese this time, even though Minami's English seemed to be just fine. "Show me, he wouldn't ever." He gestured absently in the direction Yuuri went and he slipped back into a mix of English and Russian. "I'm not letting him know I'm his fan, too."

Minami may not have gotten all of it, but he got enough and his face lit up and he pulled up the webpage that he had secured for himself years ago to post Yuuri's videos and pictures; something he kept so that no matter what phone or computer he changed to, he'd always have access. He leaned closer to Yuri, gaze still moving into the crowd for a moment and then back to his phone.

"Here—these are the first pictures I took… he was doing some local promotion for the rink he skated at and my family was visiting the area and I demanded to stop by the ice skating rink 'cause it sounded cool…. " he prattled on and Yuri looked in interest at fourteen-year-old Katsuki Yuuri, wearing a much simpler skating outfit than anyone wore in any of the big competitions, eyes wide and expression open and a huge smile on his face.

"And the video…" It was shaky and parts of it were missing, but it was clear even at the age of fourteen, Yuuri was spectacular in his movements. No big jumps; but even Yuri hadn't been allowed those until he turned fifteen. Yuuri here was barely hitting his growth, it looked like and he looked as if he were content to skate around small rinks forever.

"See?" Minami's eyes were vibrant with old excitement. "It was like he was dancing and it was sooo cool," he practically bounced in his seat and Yuri had to remind himself again that Minami was older than he was.

There were a few videos scattered throughout the years; ones that were obviously online and some that were filmed directly and in every one of them, Yuuri seemed like he was having fun with skating. He wore bright costumes and practically did jazz numbers on the ice; everything was peppy and filled with energy.

"What happened to you, katsudon?" Yuri muttered to himself. "To make you doubt that you were good at skating?" He looked up at Yuuri came back up to them, eyes still a little red, but his smile was back.

"They're calling everyone up to the practice rink," he informed Minami. "You better get out there first so you can get the best spot. I'll be watching you and cheering you on." His phone was held lightly in his hand and he gave him a sheepish smile. "I…I'm making a … a change," he said shyly. "Can—can we get a picture together before you skate?"

Minami looked ready to collapse on the spot, but he eagerly stood next to Yuuri anyway, his smile a counterpart to Yuuri's shy one as they both took pictures, uploading it to their separate accounts, tagging each other. When they finished, Yuuri gave him a quick hug. "Now—go out there and win the spot so that I can see you at the Grand Prix," he said firmly.

Minami flushed bright at Yuuri's faith in him and nodded quickly, running toward the sound of his coach's shouts, waving again at Yuuri and Yuri. "I'll send you all the videos!" He promised to Yuri and after he was gone in the distance, Yuuri raised an eyebrow.

"Do I want to know?" he asked, hesitant at the wide smirk that appeared on Yuri's face.

"I don't know, katsudon—unless you care to show me how you did a routine to that weird American song again?" His smirk wasn't just amused, Yuuri thought with horror as they walked towards the spectator section, both of them ignoring the whispers that surrounded them. "I know that old man would have died if he saw you in that suit as you slid across the ice."

Yuuri paled as he realized just _how_ dedicated of a fan Minami must have been and he wasn’t looking forward to the teasing that was going to come from his routines from his early days, before he started seriously training and did fun routines, simply for the sake of practice and the love of skating and dance combined.

As he watched Minami move around in bits of his routine, doing jumps flashier than last year and with an intense focus that came from having a solid goal in mind, he hoped that Minami would keep that joy with him as well and not misplace it along the way like he had for awhile.

"This must be boring for you," he said quietly to Yuri. "Watching block qualifiers when you've already won a gold medal." He pushed his glasses back up to his face, expression wryly amused. "Did you even have such a thing or were you snatched up for the higher levels right away?"

He sounded almost disappointed, as he didn't expect any other answer except 'of course', but Yuri snorted. "Idiot. Of course I had to qualify. I was younger than these kids—" Minami, _obviously_ , no matter how young he looked or acted. "But I still had to prove myself." He hunched his shoulders defensively. "Don't make it out like I didn't work hard to get where I was."

Yuuri blinked and opened his mouth, looking as he changed his mind as to what he wanted to say in the middle of it all. "I—you're like Viktor," he said slowly, ignoring the scowl and spluttered denial. "You're a genius, Yuri," he said softly. "One that's worked hard, of course—but—" he shrugged lightly. "Viktor is the same way. I would think that with you already in the Senior Division at your age—" He flushed."I guess I didn't really think."

"You didn't," Yuri muttered, hunching forward in his seat again, before glancing at Yuuri out of the corner of his eye. "You could have been too," he muttered. "Even if you didn’t focus on jumps like I did, you still could handle the basic requirements." The tips of his ears were pink from the admission.

"I… wh…." Yuuri turned to stare at him, intending to ask another question, when the announcement came over the loudspeakers that the practice was ending and the first skater was going to take the ice. There would be more chances to talk in between routines or after—but he wondered to himself what teenage genius Yuri Plisetsky could have seen in those videos that led him to believe that.

_It's been so long ago… maybe I'll ask Minami to see those old routines as well._

He let the thought drift to the back of his mind as he watched the newest group of skaters eager to show themselves, their fans and the world how amazing figure skating could be.

**Author's Note:**

> I seem determined to prove to Yuuri that he is and always was amazing. :D


End file.
